Virginia coach Tony Elliott
Tony Elliott instructs his team during his first season in this photo. ~ Photo By Kris Wright/TheSabre.com

The Virginia football team hopes there's a twist on an old saying this season. Entering the second year of the Tony Elliott era, the Hoos hope that familiarity breeds comfort and that it will translate into consistency.

Halfway through Elliott's second spring, the Cavaliers say there's a little different atmosphere around practices when compared to this time a year ago. With a number of returning players, Elliott said because of their exposure to the system and program expectations, the focus can shift to more specific details and on enjoying playing football while the process is in progress.

"We can have a lot more fun. We can have a lot more fun just playing football," Elliott said. "Obviously, still coaching the details but we don't have to coach the fundamentals of practice about getting on the field, getting off the field, practicing fast - the guys understand the philosophy around the way that we practice with the tempo, the speed, the efficiency so those things I'm not having to chase down like I did last year. In fairness to those guys last year, it was all new, it was a completely different structure."

For long-time Virginia fans, there are some echoes of Bronco Mendenhall's arrival in that train of thought. When he first took over the UVA program, the coaches focused on everything from practice habits to stretching expectations to how the team ran on the field each possession. The message was pretty simple - Mendenhall wanted things to be done a certain way and everyone would learn that first.

Elliott did not take over a program in the same condition as Mendenhall, but he did come in with specific expectations for practice outlines and off-field approach. That did not mean the way things were done under Mendenhall were wrong or needed repair, but it did mean that everyone - including coaches working together for the first time unlike the previous regime - needed to learn the specifics of what each practice session and segment would look like.

Obviously, after the spring practices and fall games unfolded, the defense seemed to get things on track much more quickly than the offense. Elliott said this spring that he may have pushed for too much too soon offensively. In some ways, that's the opposite of the first year setbacks experienced under Mendenhall - the Hoos spent so much time on certain areas that first year, that other areas suffered. This time, by Elliott's evaluation, the zeal to get a whole lot of things done may have hampered how well anything got done.

In the early stages of his second spring, Elliott said he likes the progress that has been made on offense.

"Overall, I've been pleased with just the general operation," Elliott said. "We've been able to operate both the no huddle and the huddle calls with minimal procedural errors. Now we've got technique work to do at all positions, but overall I've just been pleased the consistency and I saw some big plays [Saturday]. There were some big catches, some big runs, the ability to move the ball even in the situational scrimmage. Overall, just pleased with the progress that we're making offensively with the addition of the transfers and all of the guys that are coming back have put in the work. We've done a better job from a coaching standpoint of making sure we're not throwing too much at them too fast and doing a good job of if we don't have it down the way we expect to have it down or need to have it down, then let's not move on where I think last spring, as I said, we were a little overzealous just trying to get the system in and moved a little bit too fast."

While the pace of specific installation may be modified, expectations in certain areas have not been dialed down. The difference may be in how those messages are being received. Elliott wants a certain level of dedication to things like nutrition habits, the recovery process, tidiness, and the general approach to be a high-level athlete.

Virginia receiver JR Wilson said with regard to some of the things off the field like "accountability, cleaning up behind ourselves", the team is listening more to Coach Elliott and understanding more what he means with behind the theme "to be the model person and the model man" and putting it to use.

Wilson's new position coach, Adam Mims senses a shift in the comfort level with all the program's demands in year two. Mims took over the receivers coach position this offseason. He came to Virginia with Elliott last year in a senior offensive analyst role after working as a receivers coach the previous there years at UT-Chattanooga. He played at Furman when Elliott was an assistant coach for the Paladins so he's seen up close what things Elliott emphasizes and he does not think those expectations have dropped at Virginia. He said he does see more consistency, though.

"I think there's more of a familiarity across the board, coaches and players included," Mims said. "There's been a lot more consistency just from what we do offensively, what do as a team. Our players have a keen understanding of what it is that we desire out of them as far as practice, as far as off the field is concerned. The first year is always hard, I don't care where you are. The transition from first year to second year has been night and day. I don't think too, too much has changed honestly, but I think that there's more comfort and familiarity across the board."

Elliott said he is still able to address any issues that come up, but also balancing that better with the steps and things the players are doing well. He said the sum of those off-the-field things and on-the-field work has resulted in more focus on the purpose vs. the method.

"Now, it's the transition of as I told the guys we've gotta move from the what we're doing to the how and the why," Elliott said. "You're starting to see we can start focus a little bit more on the how and the why of what we're doing in all areas of the football team."

Worth Quoting

When asked what goes into figuring out Jay Woolfolk's balance between baseball and football this spring, Coach Elliott quickly praised Virginia baseball coach Brian O'Connor and his staff. The two programs have communicated regularly on how to best help Woolfolk attack his goals in each sport. He is a key closer for the top 10 baseball team and a candidate to be the starting quarterback this fall for the Cavaliers.

Does Virginia Need Additional Corner Depth?

The UVA defense began the work to replace its two starting cornerbacks this spring. Anthony Johnson finished his college career and hopes to land an NFL opportunity in the coming weeks, while Fentrell Cypress II transferred to Florida State. The Cavaliers did bring in two transfers for the secondary with Cam’Ron Kelley, a safety out of UNC, and Tayvonn Kyle, a corner out of Iowa State. Both appeared in 42 games at their previous stop. Kelley had 180 tackles, while Kyle had 76.

Coen King has taken some snaps this spring at corner, but several other inexperienced players have gotten reps there as well. That includes players Elliott mentioned such as William Simpkins III, Aidan Ryan, Micah Gaffney, and Dave Herard that are listed as upperclassmen on the roster. Still, given the departures of last year's starters, Virginia likely will look to add more depth before fall camp arrives.

"Obviously, I think in this next window we probably need to go and see can we find an available corner to give us some depth because we lost the top two guys with all your production," Elliott said.